Singles Day in ChicagoI cannot confirm nor deny the White Sox were having a singles day promotion but it would have been fitting given the way the Minnesota offense opened the game. Their first eight hits were all singles and the Twins scored six runs before recording their first extra-base hit.

That first extra-base hit came courtesy of Jake Cave when he led off the third inning with a solo home run. C.J. Cron followed suit and blasted another solo shot to give Minnesota back-to-back home runs to open the inning.

Jake Cave would later add a second home run to his afternoon and C.J. Cron would finish a triple shy of the cycle.

Quality Start for BerriosJose Berrios has pitched very well for the Twins this year but has struggled over his last four starts. He struggled with command throughout his start today but did a good job limiting the damage and earned only his second quality start over his last five outings.

With the postseason quickly approaching, it’s important that Berrios is able to get back on track.

Postgame With Baldelli

Bullpen Usage SpreadsheetClick here for a review of the number of pitches thrown by each member of the bullpen over the past five days.

Man, Polanco is really a butcher out there, now. Has to be a mental thing, right? Berrios, I thought was gonna blow the lead, all the wild pitches, but he didn't so that's something. Cave really proving his worth.

Today is Thursday, August 29.It was the 133rd game of the year putting the Twins 82% of the way through the season.The Twins hit 3 home runs upping their record-breaking season total to 261 home runs.They are now only 7 home runs short of setting a new single-season MLB record.

I didn't see the game, so this comment on the four WP is a generality. I see Castro caught and I don't think he is as apt to get on one knee as Garver. But the one knee thing is silly. Looks like a slow pitch catcher. I beg anyone to tell me how you can side shift quickly either way whilst on one knee. I know it's an attempt to lower the strike zone, but the wild pitches escaping our catchers is getting a little out of hand. Pitchers need to be able to drop breaking stuff behind the plate with confidence. That would be a tough sell lately.

I just read the game thread after watching a decent bit of the game game. Neither the announcers or anyone in the gamethread noted that the almost all of the of the Twins hits went the opposite way. They went in against 99mph Cease with a plan and executed it to perfection. Cron doesn’t really do opposite field...so he hit the ball up the middle. Tons opposite field hits, including a Cave HR.

Dobnak went 3 innings, 53 pitches. Littel should come back so he's on the roster for 8/31 and playoff eligible. The man had a 1.15 ERA in his last 15 games, 3.60 overall. We know he can help us and might even be able to pitch late, high leverage innings.

Graterol? Maybe but bring him up in September and put him on the 40-man roster, and then he can be an injury replacement if we want him on the postseason roster. Let's get up a guy we know belongs in the bullpen of a contender - that's Littel.

SSS, i was at the game today and had seats behind theTwins dugout. Schoop and Cave both made real nice plays that I don't think I would have appreciated from TV. Lots of Twins fans for a small crowd, and fun fact: The players have to get a new skill set to toss balls to the crowd over the extended protective netting.

Dobnak went 3 innings, 53 pitches. Littel should come back so he's on the roster for 8/31 and playoff eligible. The man had a 1.15 ERA in his last 15 games, 3.60 overall. We know he can help us and might even be able to pitch late, high leverage innings.

Graterol? Maybe but bring him up in September and put him on the 40-man roster, and then he can be an injury replacement if we want him on the postseason roster. Let's get up a guy we know belongs in the bullpen of a contender - that's Littel.

Littell is already eligible for the postseason roster, as he's on the 40 man roster.

I owe Cave a huge apology. I think hearing all the calls for Cave to play over Kepler put a bad taste in my mouth but man is he tearing the cover off the ball of late. Also, the first homerun he hit today is a testament to either the winds of Chicago or the ball being super juiced. That looked like a routine fly ball off the bat.

Jake Cave is improving his trade value for this off-season. Several people talking about trading Rosario. How about trading Cave? Might even get more for him, as he has more years of control, and he's definitely at his peak of performance right now. And for some reason, I just think Rosario is a better player. Definitely has much more of a sample size for his performance than does Cave.

But I'm also fine keeping Cave as our 4th outfielder. He looked good in center today. Has looked good in left, is very fast on the bases, and is showing that he can be a legitimate MLB hitter. Especially given our team's injury history, it makes sense to keep quality and depth at the outfield positions.

Jake Cave is improving his trade value for this off-season. Several people talking about trading Rosario. How about trading Cave? Might even get more for him, as he has more years of control, and he's definitely at his peak of performance right now. And for some reason, I just think Rosario is a better player. Definitely has much more of a sample size for his performance than does Cave.

But I'm also fine keeping Cave as our 4th outfielder. He looked good in center today. Has looked good in left, is very fast on the bases, and is showing that he can be a legitimate MLB hitter. Especially given our team's injury history, it makes sense to keep quality and depth at the outfield positions.

Cave (.275 / .373 / .493) has barely 30% of Rosario's (.283 / .306 / .508) PAs this season, but it is safe to say that these two players are rapidly approaching parity both offensively and defensively.Assuming Buxton stays healthy (knock wood!), looks like four choices going into 2020:

Four-man platoon (i.e., do nothing)

In a three-man OF, keep Rosario if he develops more plate discipline and earns more walks

If Rosario does not improve, keep Cave assuming he develops better defensive awareness and judgement

Jose Berrios is certainly pointed back in the right direction, but there are still some red flags from today's outing...

Encouraging, to be sure.The man was Jekyll and Hyde today.Showed in his facial expressions and body language all the way through.Confident, fast working when he was on, slow and uncertain when he was off.You could see him cringe after the ball came out of his hand on one of those WPs, and likewise it was clear when he was pleased that he hit his location.Though there are signs of progress he is still out of sorts.Wish him well - Winter is coming.

But compared to Cease?_That_ guy's a head case.

Running through my mind as I watched:

90% of this game is half mental

Don't think, just throw

I wouldn't dig in if I were you

It's going to be a long stretch until the next off day on 9 Sep, great to see the bullpen rest being managed so well.Can only get better after the call-ups.